Chaika: The Coffin Princess (2014)

[棺姫のチャイカ]

Director: Soichi Masui
Studio: Bones
Starring: Junji Majima, Chika Anzai, Yuuko Hara
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
The wizard princess Chaika employs two out-of-work saboteurs to aid her in her mission to gather the scattered remains of her father, the infamous Taboo Emperor Arthur Gaz.

Impressions:
This series reminds me a lot of Scrapped Princess with a similar core trio and a lot of punny names (only here it's cars rather than firearms). I like the characters quite a bit. Some people seem to get annoyed by Chaika's broken Japanese, but I found it endearing. I also liked the deadpan humor that severe brocon Akari brings to the table. Our lead Toru being somewhat on the morally grey side is a nice change of pace from the stereotypical goody-two-shoes hero. (I know anti-heroes aren't all that rare either, but if he and Chaika both were hopelessly naive, they wouldn't get past the first episode.) There's some good action to be had and they do a good job of slowly unraveling the mysteries of the scenario. I enjoyed it a fair bit and would gladly recommend giving it a watch.

Rating:
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